Short track speed skater Lin Xiaojun (27, Korean name Lim Hyo-jun), who won the first individual event in an international competition after being naturalized in China, expressed her emotions.
Xiaojun Lin said in an interview with ISU after winning the men’s 500m final at the 5th International Skating Union (ISU) Short Track World Cup event of the 2022-2023 season held in Dresden, Germany on the 6th (Korea time) as a result i 41 seconds 329 “I’m very happy to win a medal again after a long time,” he said. “There are many young and good players in China,” he said. “I will do my best until the end of this season. I am very happy.”
Xiaojun Lin, who won the gold medal at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics as a signboard for the Korean short track speed skating team, was embroiled in a sexual harassment case in 2019 and suffered hardships. During physical training at the Jincheon National Athletes Village weight training center, he was accused of taking off his pants while playing with a junior from the national team, A, and revealing body parts. Although Lin Xiaojun was acquitted after a court battle, the one-year suspension from the Korea Skating Federation did not go away.
After that, he left Korea and became a naturalized citizen in China. Lin Xiaojun has not been able to appear on the international stage for a long time. This is because of the Olympic Charter of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which states, ‘For an athlete to change nationality and participate in the Olympic Games, three years must to pass after the international competition in which he took part in the previous nationality.’ .
The Chinese short track team included athletes who will compete in the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, and Lim Hyo-jun had to focus on the Chinese business team of Hebei Province and the second group of the Chinese national team. Lin Xiaojun was able to return to the international stage wearing only the uniform of the Chinese national team this season. Even after returning, Lin Xiaojun endured ups and downs. In October last year, he was suffering from back pain after falling in the 1st World Cup, and failed to win the individual event until the 4th World Cup.
But this game was different. Xiaojun Lin looked for an opportunity at the back of the men’s 500m final race, took advantage of a fierce physical battle between Kim Tae-seong and Stephen Dubois (Canada), rose to first place, and crossed the finish line first without losing the lead . . Lin Xiaojun clenched his fists and performed an intense ceremony, hugging the coaches of the Chinese national team and not raising his head for a long time.
Xiaojun Lin also led the Chinese national team to victory in the men’s 5,000m relay final, which was followed by two gold medals in this event. Lin Xiaojun, who won his first individual gold medal after naturalization, will participate in the 6th World Cup, which opens in Dordrecht, the Netherlands on the 10th. Xiaojun Lun is scheduled to compete in the ISU World Championships, which open in Seoul on the 10th of next month.
YTN Jaehyung Kim (jhkim03@ytn.co.kr)
[저작권자(c) YTN 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]
